Panaji, Oct 1 (PTI) The Goa BJP on Tuesday said the Pramod Sawant-led government has been taking steps to protect the land resources of the coastal state and slammed the opposition for carrying out propaganda against him.
Addressing a press conference, Goa BJP spokesman Giriraj Pai Vernekar said the state cabinet has been amending the existing laws to protect the land and prevent change in land use.
The BJP leader pointed out that the state government had formed a special investigation team, which had cracked down on several land-grabbing cases.
The unchecked grabbing of gullible plots have stopped, and the SIT booked people involved in the criminal activities, he said.
The BJP leader also spoke about the state cabinet’s decision on Monday to amend the Communidade Code.
Communidades are the community land holdings created during the Portuguese regime in the state, which are governed by a special code adopted after liberation in 1961.
Vernekar said the state cabinet amended the code to ensure that the Communidade land cannot be bought for one purpose and diverted for another.
He said the administrator of Communidade can initiate an inquiry into any change in land use.
“If the land is found to be used for any other purpose, the administrator, after consulting the state government, can revert the land from the purchaser,” the BJP leader said.
He further said the Sawant-led government has also enacted laws banning the conversion of paddy fields and land in the No Development Zones.
Speaking about the government’s decision to blacklist the road contractors, Vernekar said the state government has already asked the contractors to repair the roads in the defect liability period.
He said once blacklisted, the contractor will not be able to take up any other work in future.
The BJP leader said the state government has also decided that once a road is built, no other department will dig it for their purpose for three years. PTI RPS ARU
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